Nation: THE HEALTH BILL

THE health of our people is, inescapably, the foundation for fulfillment
of all our aspirations," declared President Johnson in his special
message to the Congress outlining a broad health-care program that he
termed "practical, prudent and patient." Its goal, he said, was to lay
a firm foundation for "the healthiest, happiest and most hopeful
society in the history of man."

At the top of the list was the most controversial and most publicized
item in the package: medical insurance for the aged. Johnson's medicare
plan is similar to one that failed to pass last year,* except for one
important difference: while the...